What would John McCain do about Trump impeachment?

Cindy McCain, chair of the McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University and widow of Senator John McCain, was in Kansas City Wednesday for a Women’s Foundation “We Work for Change” fundraiser. In an interview, she said that though she doesn’t know what her husband would think about impeaching President Donald Trump, she does know he would be speaking out against the president’s attempts to pressure Ukraine to investigate his rival Joe Biden’s son.

“Ugh!” she said when asked about it. “My husband would be very disappointed,” and would advise his party, “If you see something you disagree with, speak up!”

Yet he’d also urge civility — as she has been doing, to mark the first anniversary of his death. And, no, those two things are not mutually exclusive. “My husband was very tough and civil. He had his moments when he fell outside the box, but when he did, he always apologized.”

The whole world seems so “outside the box” these days that even the word “civility” reliably provokes an argument. Butter knives are sure to be invoked. (Don’t take one to a gunfight!) Someone will say that Trump has proven that to insist on disagreeing civilly, without sacrificing principle, is weak, meek and for chumps only. Chumps doomed by their quaint sense of fair play.

Still, it’s ad hominem attacks that are weak, and wrong even when they work. And it’s in the most difficult days that we need the guardrails of civility most of all.

This story was originally published September 24, 2019 at 4:48 PM.